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I'm not sure if this qualifies for the off-topic forum or not, so I'll just post it here and hope for the best.

How do you pronounce bass in your head? I know almost everyone except for the newbies will pronounce it aloud as 'base', but how do you pronounce it in your head? Honestly, whenever I see the word, the pronounciation that comes to mind is 'bass', as in the fish. I've asked a few friends of mine this question, all of whom pronounce it aloud as 'base'.

Just one of many odd questions that pop up in my mind from time to time..

Definitely like "base", although a german needs to think before he says it... but think of Drum'n'Bass, the oldschool hip hop group "3rd Bass" (refering to the third base of baseball)... i have never heard it pronounced differently in the english language.

When I read these forums I often think [bass] but when I'm speaking to someone in English I try to say [base] as it should be said. Finnish and German are nasty languages because everything is said like it's been written (except some cases in German).

English is the goofy language, not yours, ask anyone that's tried learning it as something other than their native language. Ask anyone that knows or especially teaches a few languages. If you didn't learn English first, it's the toughest language to learn. So many exceptions to so many rules.

No, no, no. English the most easiest ( ) language to learn. There is no problem first studying first two years German before starting to study English atleast in the countries where movies aren't dubbed.You don't have to know anything about the grammar. Knowing the words is enough in most of the cases. You should study Finnish(this one is tough! http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/finnish/cases.html), French, German or Swedish to know what grammar means. I agree with you on one thing. English is the goofiest language on Earth.

The word has no sound in my head unless I know the context in which it's being used. My assumed context for that word in the HA community was "base", so my mind was leaning towards that, but until I knew specifically what was being talked about, it was neither (or both, depending on perspective).

PS - Might go icefishing for a few of them bad boys today. There is one lake here that puts out quite a few in the 10-13 inch range. (w00t)

[drifting off-topic with fishing stories]

My record crappie (waaaay back when I was a teenager) was just over 13", as a matter of fact, and almost a 2" girth (egg-laden female). Most of the fun in crappie fishing is not size, in my opinion, but abundance. We've caught well over 100 per day many times (having to release a lot to stay under the limit).

And in Georgia, we pronounce it "crappie" (rhymes with "happy"), although most people across the country I think pronounce it "croppie".

[/end off-topic fishing stories]

Regarding English being an odd language, just consider how these words (that are spelled so similarly) are pronounced:

For the longest time, I thought both rhymed with glass! In fact, I only discovered it was "base" while playing around with a demo of Fruity Loops (I think...), which had a song named "feel the bass" and the singer (obviously!) pronounced it "feel the base" I must admit it came as a total shock, as I was always taught at school that a double consonant changes the vowel sound... any reason for the special pronunciation?

(OT: Well, I also thought Nike rhymed with bike, why it's pronounced as nigh-kee is another mystery to me )

I think it's all a matter of what you're used to saying, and what you're used to hearing others say. To me, it was pronounced "base" around me all my life, but I'm sure if I lived in a place where the predominant pronunciation was "bass" (like "glass"), then I'd adapt eventually. But it would seem really odd for the first few months.